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On the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys!

Sorry this is a day late but I had to get a few of the interviews posted before I could get to this round-up!

I love the rec carpet at the Daytime Emmys and this year was the first time that I can remember that we didn’t have to contend with the hot sun. The lobby of the Las Vegas Hilton was nice and cool and the set-up allowed for lots of fans to be lined up and to be able to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars.

Regis Philbin (seen arriving with wife Joy) was host of the show which aired on CBS with ratings improving dramatically from last year when it aired on the CW and took place at LA’s Orpheum Theatre.

Regis is great but let’s face it, he’s no Neil Patrick Harris and did little to keep the show’s energy flowing. But the red carpet was was about the best that I can remember. Here are the highlights of some of the interviews I did and photos I took.

One of my favorite soap stars is Carolyn Hennesy, so good as Diane on General Hospital (and also as Barb on Cougar Town).

It was so great to see her looking so regal on the red carpet in her dazzling Lloyd Klein gown and, for the first time, as an Emmy nominee.

“My father [art director Dale Hennesy] won an Academy Award many, many years ago and I’m the only person I know who has actually practiced an acceptance speech holding an Academy Award,” she shared. “But that’s pie in the sky but with this, is somebody going to make this all disappear? I wouldn’t be surprised. As a little girl, as an actress, it’s what we dream of.”

I told her the Emmy would look good with her dress and Carolyn, with perfect comic timing said: “Ya think? I’m just sayin.”

Bonnie Hunt was a first-time Emmy nominee for outstanding talk show host. She brought her mother to the awards and remained upbeat despite the fact that The Bonnie Hunt Show was canceled after two seasons and had its last original episode air last month.

I had spent time with her several years back on the set of her ABC comedy Life With Bonnie and was happy when she took a break from snapping pics of her mom on the red carpet to come on over for a chat.

“I’ve been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes but this is my first daytime nomination – and it’s probably my last (laughs),” Bonnie said.

Bonnie has had several critically acclaimed TV series (The Building, The Bonnie Hunt Show sitcom, Life With Bonnie) but all have lasted just a year or two. It’s a good thing she’s always had plenty of movie roles in such films as Jerry Maguire, Dave, Only You and Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel.

“That’s the way it goes,” she said of the latest cancellation. “I’ll do something else, a movie or something. I had the best time.”

I asked Bonnie what the highlights were for her during her two years on daytime: “Having Carol Burnett on, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Carl Reiner. I had all the great sitcom people on. We had Betty White on and we started all the stunts with her, we had a Betty White body double in the first season then she did the [Snickers] commercial so we felt really proud of her. Those really were the highlights for me. I loved all the guests.”

When I chatted with outstanding younger actor nominee Drew Tyler Bell, we of course had no idea that he would go on to win the Emmy for his performance as Thomas on Bold and the Beautiful.

He really just seemed excited to be in Vegas with his wife and castmates.

“It’s really special to be nominated because the people who are in daytime vote for the nominees so to be recognized by your peers is really cool,” he said.

How much did he want to win?

“It would be nice to win, of course,” he admitted. “But I don’t base success on awards. It’s great just to be working on a wonderful show like B&B. But of course if I were to win I would definitely like that.”

Outstanding lead actor nominee Jon Lindstom has filmed his last scenes as Craig Montgomery on As the World Turns.

I pointed out that Craig had done so many horrible things including hurting poor Carly!

“The hell with Carly,” he joked. “She should have just gone along with him and everything would have been fine.”

Would he act happy if someone else’s name was called in his category?

“I will be clapping happily and I would mean it, but I would rather take it home to be quite honest,” he said.

(He ended up losing the Emmy to co-star Michael Park).

He’s enjoyed playing Craig: “It’s always more fun to play a scoundrel, they’re easier. You can do pretty much whatever you want and it makes sense. Nobody questions it, they just go Oh, he’s a bad guy, he’s crazy, he’s whatever.”

Next up for Jon is a movie called You Can’t Have it All with Wendy Malick.

Outstanding lead actress nominee Crystal Chappell may be playing Carly on Days of Our Lives these days but on Emmy night, her thoughts were with her former soap Guiding Light. It was for her GL role of Olivia for which she was nominated for the sixth time (she won in 2002).

“I’m proud to have a nomination because it’s going to be the last nomination for Guiding Light,” Crystal told me. “It was such an important part of my life for so long.”

Of her new job: “I love ‘Days,’ I love the people there. I’m very, very lucky.”

I wondered what Crystal thought of the Emmys new home in Vegas: “Somebody just handed me a $25 chip. Where else would that happen? LA? New York? I don’t think so. I love Vegas.”

It was so great to see Austin Peck who played Brad Snyder on As the World Turns until last December.

His character was killed off last October (but returned as a ghost for awhile). I wanted to know how he felt about that and if it was difficult to watch the show where his character’s wife and kids and other family members continue on without Brad.

“I was sad but the wonderful thing about playing the character is it was a fantastic arc from the character’s inception to the death to coming back,” he said. “It couldn’t have been better for me as an actor. … It is a little painful [to watch now] but I love the fact that they continue to talk about me.”

Austin just finished an off-Broadway play called The Irish Curse.

General Hospital cast member Bradford Anderson was a nominee for the second year in a row for his performance as Spinelli.

I remember meeting him at a pre-Emmy party in Hollywood 3-4 years ago and laughing when he described his character as a big computer nerd. Since I’m not following the show too closely these days, I asked Bradford if the nerd label still fit.

“He’s still an absolute nerd,” he confirmed. “He’s found a way to communicate with the people of Port Charles but he’s in now way assimilated to the normalcies, he’s still trying to find his way.”

Of his second Emmy nomination, Bradford said: “It’s gratifying every time, a nice pat on the back from the people that you work with.”

And what about the change in venue from last year in downtown Los Angeles to the Las Vegas Hilton?

“Well, it’s a lot shinier here,” he said.

Longtime The Young and the Restless cast member Kate Linder was glammed out as usual.

Kate has long been busy behind the scenes serving on various Emmy committees and on the Television Academy’s Board of Governors. She’s also one of the few soap stars to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She was very excited about the Vegas venue.

“There’s so many people here,” she said. “It’s what we need. It’s celebrating daytime, celebrating the glamor, the excitement, entertainment. Daytime is an important part of this industry and we have to make sure it does not go anywhere.”

Zach Conroy arrived in Vegas as a nominee for outstanding younger actor for his role of James on Guiding Light.

“I don’t really care if I win,” he said. “Being nominated gives you a nice feeling that people appreciate what you’ve been doing.”

“I was only [on Guiding Light] for a very short time but I learned a lot. I made quite an impression and I got quite an impression.He had also spent a month on As the World Turns.

He now plays Oliver on Bold and the Beautiful.

He said “it was a long four months” between jobs.”

And finally, I was very excited to meet Roger Newcomb and David L. Jacobs who do the We Love Soaps site.

They do such a terrific job and I am a big fan. It was great to meet them in person after swapping emails.